1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to avian enclosures and accessories to avian enclosures. More specifically, the invention relates to apparatus and methods for rotating avian enclosures.
2. Background Art
One of main purposes of avian enclosures for their owners is the enjoyment of watching birds. Unfortunately, rodents consume large quantities of birdseed and, worst yet, destroy birdfeeders and birdhouses due to their aggressive nature. The most vulnerable feeders are the ones made out of plastic or wooden parts that squirrels will eventually chew on and destroy. As a result, people cannot enjoy watching birds at the same time while worrying about squirrels, or other rodents, damaging and/or scaring away birds from their feeders or houses.
Many attempts have been made in the prior art to develop, either internal or external to a birdfeeder, mechanisms that try to actively protect feeders by repelling rodents. Many of these use a cruel and inhumane electrical shock on the squirrels. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,857 to Boaz uses a large umbrella-shaped electrical shocking squirrel guard above the feeder. However, squirrels can get around this device simply by leaping onto the feeder from a nearby tree or from the ground. Other attempts shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,898 to Doubleday et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,788 to Boyd, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,951 to Collins all incorporate an electrical-shocking device within the feeder itself. However, defense mechanisms of these types can generally be figured-out by the squirrels who are both cunning and very determined. Over time, the squirrels train themselves where to step and where not to step in order to avoid getting shocked.
Other attempts in the prior art have tried more passive devices such as plastic baffles for deterring squirrels that are inherently designed to be very large and bulky devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,669 to Blasbalg, U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,687 to Nylen, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,856 to Chester all use some sort of large umbrella-shaped squirrel guard located either above and/or below the feeder. However, the effectiveness of these passive devices is even worse than the previously mentioned active devices since the squirrel will not only defeat the device, they will also destroy the device in the process by chewing on it repeatedly.